Technically Speaking (July 14, 2014)

Phil Johnson will no longer be appointed to lead the US Patent Office, according to the Obama administration. There was major backlash nationwide after Johnson, who’d lead the opposition against legislation that would make it easier to challenge patent trolls. This led to a discussion on problems with design patents; or how patents are being granted for features that any competent UI designer might suggest, including “Swipe to Unlock.”

We moved on to a discussion on the Raspberry Pi Model B+, the latest offering from the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a UK foundation aiming to provide low-cost computers to teach children computer science and programming from a young age. The $35 credit-card-sized computer has found a huge market among hobbyists worldwide.

A couple of LastPass vulnerabilities were revealed last week, but both involved features that are inherently insecure, and that doesn’t change our recommendation of the service. Both vulnerabilities have been fixed at this time, but you should check and make sure you don’t have any One-Time-Passwords authorized on your account.

Should you have to give up your passwords? If you don’t, what should the penalty be? We don’t have a good answer, but if you have thoughts let us know at 860-880-0119 or email ask@wespeaktech.org. This stems from Christopher Wilson’s being jailed for refusing to give up his encryption keys (though he gave the fuzz 50 false passwords first).

Technically Speaking is produced by Jason McMullan, Mike Fagan, and me, Drew Gates. The show airs live on Mondays at 11am EST at 91.7fm (in the Storrs, CT area) and at whus.org (everywhere else). Get in touch with us at ask@wespeaktech.org or by leaving us a voicemail at (860) 880-0119. If we talk about your question, we’ll read/play it on air.